Perpetual Political Campaigns and Nonprofit Advocacy

When news that President Trump had filed a document on Inauguration Day paving the way for his 2020 re-election campaign, unfounded fears began circulating on the internet about whether that might inhibit nonpartisan nonprofits from responding to the actions of a politician who is formally seeking reelection. For example, can charitable nonprofits publicly support or oppose an Executive Order signed by someone seeking re-election without violating the tax-law ban on endorsing or opposing the candidate? The short answer is: Absolutely!

Nonprofit rights to speak out on issues of the day remain solid regardless of the campaign status of politicians. The Lawyers Alliance for New York issued a legal alert, exhorting nonprofits, “Don’t be scared into silence by false internet rumors.” It continued: “all public charities can:

criticize or praise sitting public officials, including the President, for actions that they take while in office;

take a position on issues, such as environment, refugees, or school reform;

take a position on specific government actions, including Executive Orders, and proposed laws and regulations.”

Such actions may count as lobbying, but they are certainly legal.

Likewise, Natalie Ossenfort with Bolder Advocacy, an initiative of the Alliance for Justice, writes that “if the President, or any other elected official, takes an official action as part of his or her official duties, we [nonprofits] are allowed to respond so long as our comments don’t rise to the level of campaign intervention.” The reason is that “as 501(c)(3)s, we can continue to speak out and hold government officials accountable for their actions even when they are also candidates for public office.”